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Your Source For The Best In BasketballSun, 02 Aug 2015 19:33:23 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.3LeBron James Not Afraid to Make Political Statementshttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/lebron-james-not-afraid-to-make-political-statements/
http://www.slamonline.com/nba/lebron-james-not-afraid-to-make-political-statements/#commentsWed, 07 Nov 2012 14:00:57 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=238196

Michael Jordan remained largely apolitical throughout his NBA career, as he felt this was the best way to protect his business interests off the court. Jordan became infamous when he uttered the line, “Republicans buy shoes, too.”

The Miami Heat star makes many millions off his endorsement deals, including one with Nike. But there’s one other particular endorsement he isn’t shy about making news with, regardless of its negative impact on those deals — he’s once again voting for Barack Obama for President. “I’ve been second guessed,” James said. “They’re saying it’s bad for the brand. If I feel like I want to support someone, then go for it.”

James said he carefully researched Obama before he voted for the Democrat in 2008. He’s done that again this time. “No,” James said about not being afraid as an athlete to take a stand. “I just think it’s about knowledge if you know what’s going on. I’ve always said I feel like it’s important for me to do it because that’s just who I am. I got out there and I learned a lot about it in ’08 and I learned a lot about it now.”

They’re mostly busy gearing up for the start of the ’12-13 season—at least busier than they were a few weeks ago—but a handful of NBA players had some spare time Monday night to check out the latest presidential debate. Roll through the gallery above to peep what they had to say on the Obama-Romney political battle.

Looking up to fill his retirement days, Yao Ming has gone back to school, hawked over-priced wine, and is now trying his luck within the political realm in his native land. Per China Daily: “On Sunday, Yao took his seat as a new member of the standing committee of Shanghai’s political advisory body during its annual session. ‘There are about 142 members in the group, and Yao is the youngest,’ said Kong Rong, who works in the service office of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Shanghai Committee. Yao is not the first Chinese sports star to become a Shanghai political adviser. Former Chinese female football star striker Sun Wen took up this job five years ago. ‘Yao said the new title shows trust coming from the people in the city. He had said before that once he decides to do something, he will try his best to accomplish it. So we can trust him that he can balance all aspects of his work and study, and do well in this job,’ said Yao’s spokesman Zhang Chi. But Zhang denied that Yao has any ambitions to have a ‘political career’. ‘The responsibilities for a CPPCC member include offering political consultation, and supervision. What Yao wants is to use his influence to do good deeds for society but not to seek a political position,’ Zhang said. Under the new title, Yao is supposed to attend regular meetings, make suggestions or raise written proposals for the advisory body and government departments.”

Clearly, owning the New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets isn’t fulfilling enough an occupation for Mikhail Prokhorov, who intends to run for the highest office in his homeland of Russia. From the AP: “Mikhail Prokhorov, one of Russia’s richest tycoons and the owner of the New Jersey Nets basketball team, said Monday he will run against Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in the March presidential election. Prokhorov has been cautious not to cross Putin’s path in the past, but the billionaire may pose a serious challenge to Putin, whose authority has been dented by alleged widespread fraud during Russia’s Dec. 4 parliamentary election. Putin’s party only won about 50 percent of that vote, compared to 64 percent four years ago, and the fraud allegations have allowed opposition parties to successfully mount massive anti-Putin protests in Russia … ‘The society is waking up,’ Prokhorov said at his news conference in Moscow. He will have a good chance of appealing to Russia’s growing opposition, which includes prosperous middle-class residents, many of whom are angered by Putin’s bid to reclaim the presidency.”

Once he’s done with coaching in the NBA, SVG tells the Orlando Sentinel that he wants to work in politics, mostly to see if he can change things in Washington. Riiiiight, good luck with that: “Like most Americans, Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy was fed up with the government’s protracted fight over the national debt ceiling. Unlike most Americans, Van Gundy wants to do something about it. Van Gundy, who enjoys watching political shows and reading magazines such as Time and Newsweek in his free time, said he’s thought about pursuing a career in politics once he’s done coaching. He isn’t sure what level of politics, but he has seriously considered the possibility. ‘I don’t like what’s going on,’ Van Gundy said of the recent happenings in Washington, D.C. ‘I think sometimes you can sit around and complain. Look, I want to coach for as long as I can. But when that’s done — depending on where my family situation is — yeah, I’d think about it. I certainly would think about it. I’m fed up with the people in our government. Because I’m fed up, instead of complaining about it, I plan to do something about it.'”

The New Jersey Nets’ owner has successfully jumped into Russian politics, and may have his eye on the top political gig in the country at some point down the line. The NY Times reports: “The billionaire owner of the New Jersey Nets basketball team, Mikhail D. Prokhorov, was elected leader of a Russian political party on Saturday in the first foray of a big businessman into politics here in nearly a decade. Tall, lithe and an avid basketball player himself, Mr. Prokhorov had been publicity shy for years, mostly confining his appearances outside the boardroom to sports events. Recently, though, he has become a magnet for attention, and is poised to play a significant though still uncertain role in Russian politics. A head taller than most people at the party conference in a business center festooned with posters and political slogans, such as ‘Freedom, Justice and Order,’ Mr. Prokhorov strode about shaking hands, cracking jokes and drawing glances. Intriguingly, Mr. Prokhorov, who is 46 and known as ‘the bachelor billionaire’ for his penchant for attending parties at nightclubs with Russian models, did not rule out a possible run for president. But he said Saturday that any decision would come after parliamentary elections in December and would depend on how his party, Right Cause, performed in that voting.”

The New Jersey Nets’ Russian owner wants to lead something called the Right Cause, a political party in his home country. Reuters reports: “A Russian billionaire declared on Monday he sought to lead a party backing a second term for President Dmitry Medvedev, a move that could undermine an unwritten rule that tycoons stay out of politics. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, expected by many to run for president again in elections next year, cracked down on powerful ‘oligarchs’ during his eight years in the Kremlin. Oil magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky was stripped of his fortune and imprisoned. Others have left the country. Mikhail Prokhorov, one of those who has made his peace with the Kremlin, said on Monday he hoped to lead Right Cause, a party with a mainly middle-class constituency which supports a liberal free market economy. It has no seats in parliament and was formed only two years ago. ‘I have sent my proposal to the leadership of the Right Cause party,’ Prokhorov, owner of the New Jersey Nets basketball team, told a reporter during a trip to a power station in Kaluga, 150 km (90 miles) south of Moscow. ‘Now the decision is with them,’ said Prokhorov, who was ranked second in a list of the richest Russians by business magazine Finans with a fortune of $22.7 billion.”

Jackson must’ve seen the writing on the wall for the ill-fated California law proposal. From the LA Times: “Regarding Prop. 19, which would legalize marijuana, Jackson said that the legislation is ‘poorly written,’ but ‘there’s no need to have our federal system and our state system fill the prisons with people who are prosecuted for this. I think marijuana has been known to be addictive,’ Jackson said at Staples Center on Tuesday before the Lakers’ game against Memphis. ‘It’s not something to be laughed at. I think it’s a situation that can be handled and help our society out. There’s no need to have our federal system and our state system fill the prisons with people who are prosecuted for this. Some of it is handled as a misdemeanor and some is handled as three stick. So it gets to be an issue that complicates our legal system and our prison system. I think it has to be better written. Marijuana is not a minor situation. People become addicted to it like they get addicted to anything. It’s what we call the soft drug in the old days before the Len Bias situation changed everything in this country as far as drugs go. We have to get control of some of the things in this society we need to get control of in this drug war.'”

]]>http://www.slamonline.com/nba/phil-jackson-on-prop-19-legislation-poorly-written/feed/44“Los Suns” Will Suit Up Tonight to Play Spurshttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/los-suns-will-suit-up-tonight-to-play-spurs/
http://www.slamonline.com/nba/los-suns-will-suit-up-tonight-to-play-spurs/#commentsWed, 05 May 2010 15:05:17 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=74323

The Phoenix Suns hope to send a message tonight. Yes, they want to send a message to the San Antonio Spurs, but more importantly, they want to send a political one.

As the Suns announced earlier: “Robert Sarver decided – with unanimous support from his players – that the Suns would wear their “Los Suns” jerseys for Game 2 tonight on Cinco de Mayo, a Mexican holiday. The gesture, which came with the blessing of the NBA and the league’s players union, reflects Sarver’s belief that passing Senate Bill 1070 was not ‘the right way to handle the immigration problem, Number 1,’ he said. ‘Number 2, as I read through the bill, it felt to me a little bit like it was mean-spirited, and I personally just don’t agree with it.’ Arizona sports teams and events have become targets for protests and calls for boycotts since SB 1070 was signed into law by Gov. Jan Brewer on April 23. The law makes it a state crime to be in Arizona without proper documents and requires local police to check the legal status of suspected undocumented immigrants.”